a myriad of miles in the musecage of Michigan.







photos by Gabrielle Sukich (@whirlinggirl), Heather Gallaher (@heathergallaher), and Patrick Zelko (@pzelko)
Nick Arndt
Born and raised in the flatlands of northern Indiana, my life has now brought me to “God’s country”, Negaunee, Michigan, located in Marquette County near Lake Superior in the north-central region of the Upper Peninsula. The air up here is crisp and the winters are long. This is the North Country.
My wife (Hannah), my German Shorthaired-Pointer (Murphy Miles), and I moved to Negaunee, Michigan in June 2023, a week after getting married. For work, one can find me within the walls of Velodrome Coffee Company, located in downtown Marquette and Ishpeming. Velodrome was founded by my friend Brice Sturmer in 2017, with a focus on personally sourcing quality green coffee.
My dedication to trail running and marathoning (among other endurance sports) coupled with my passion for coffee-related small business dominates my life today.
I’ve been training year-round as a runner, mostly, since the 8th grade (2008). From an early age, running was something I became monomaniacally obsessed with. I was committed to doing things alone and became a “Lone Wolf” in training. My passion led me to the University of Southern Indiana (August 2013 – December 2014) and Valparaiso University (January – May 2015) where things, unfortunately, did not work out for me as an athlete, a student, and, most importantly, a person.
From mid-2015 to mid-2018, I settled back in my hometown of New Carlisle, Indiana to reassess my life. I ditched the classroom and simply focused on pursuing my passion, which was training for trail races and working in the coffee industry. Infusco Coffee Roasters was where it all happened. Working, training, and hanging around southwest Michigan (a mere 20 minutes from my hometown in Indiana) was the consistent “rock” I needed.
Intermixed throughout this cycle of “train, eat, work, train, eat, sleep”, I became obsessed with solo exploration of far northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, specifically to train on the most rugged and beautiful trails in the Midwest and embrace the culture of the North. In the winter of 2016, I went to Chicago and purchased a used red Ford Ranger with a topper and outfitted it to be my mobile home for these trips.
After a three-year stint in the Adirondack Mountains of far upstate New York (November 2018 – 2021), I now find myself back in the marvelous midwest. The land of Michigan inspires me daily, and I yearn to fall more in love with its rich culture and history.
All in all, my competitive fire and dedication to trail running and marathoning burns a fire in my soul. Day and night, it’s what I dream and scheme about. However, certain years, I will continue to commit large chunks of training time specifically towards other distances.
Cheers to many trails and tasty beverages aplenty,
-na-
days
hours minutes seconds
until
GRANDMA’S MARATHON
Training Log
Fastest Known Times
Personal Records
Distance | Time | Year | Event | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
1600M | 4:21.45 | 2013 | IHSAA REGIONALS | VALPARAISO, IN |
3200M | 9:32.48 | 2013 | HOOSIER STATE RELAYS QUALIFIER | ANGOLA, IN |
5K | 15:51.6 | 2012 | IHSAA REGIONALS | NEW CARLISLE, IN |
HALF-MARATHON | 1:09:33 | 2022 | DETROIT HALF-MARATHON | DETROIT, MI |
MARATHON | 2:31:47 | 2018 | INDIANAPOLIS MONUMENTAL MARATHON | INDIANAPOLIS, IN |
50K | 3:16:16 (SPLIT) | 2018 | KAL-HAVEN TRAIL RUN | KALAMAZOO, MI |
50-MILE | 5:56:14 | 2021 | JFK 50-MILE | BOONSBORO, MD |